I've been thinking a lot about the first days and weeks of my travels lately. How did I feel when I boarded the plane to Abu Dhabi, travelling on my own
for the first time? What did I think when I jumped on that
overnight bus from Goa to Mumbai because I had met a (not so) random Irish guy at my couchsurfing host's place and travelled
really on my own for the first time? Did I really extend my stay in Oman from a couple of hours to a whole week just like that, without knowing anyone in or anything about that amazing country? And how was it as I
started my hitchsurfing trip though Western Europe, never having hitchhiked before in my life (except maybe once in Dubai, but don't tell anyone)? I remember that I actually booked a seat in a shared car to drive me from my hometown to my friend's place in Stuttgart in oder to start the journey from there - because I didn't want my parents to watch me trying something "crazy" like that -
and maybe failing at it. Actually this might be one of the reasons I do so many things by myself - because then no one can see when I fail. Only the horses by the road can see me standing and waiting for a ride for ages.
What are all these contemplations about, you wonder? Well, my next big thing is coming up: I will hopefully be hiking in the South of Spain for a month, starting in Tarifa and working my way north-eastwards through various National Parks and centuries-old towns and villages, following the
European Long-Distance Trail E4. Usually when I talk about it, I add:
"At least that's the plan, haha."
Now that it's less than 2 weeks before my flight to Malaga, I do get nervous. I've been travelling a lot and ain't afraid of new places or getting lost. I'm experienced. Right? "Yes, you are. But...", says a low voice in my head that alarmingly reminds me of my mother's, "...you have no idea about this."
I've never been hiking more than two days in a row, I've never set camp anywhere on my own (also I can count the times I slept in a tent on one hand), I've never even used a camping stove, I've never carried a tent and a sleeping bag and a matress and enough food for one and a half days all at once. I've never done so many things that might be good to know for what I'm planning to do - so of course I'm nervous. But at the same time, I'm awfully excited to do something new.
You could say that, to some extent, travelling has become a routine to me. Hitchhiking is not that exciting anymore. Don't get me wrong: Every day I ever hitchhiked had a little surprise for me and I'll probably never stop learning, but at the same time I feel like I'm already an expert. There's only a small taste of adventure left to hitchhiking for me. It's just my way of travelling, right?
But now that I discovered my passion for
climbing and hiking, I felt like this is not quite the right way for me anymore. Quite often during my summer trip I thought that it's a pity that I'm there again, passing all these beautiful landscapes and hidden gems on the way to the "main sights" in the cities, seeing mountains in the distance I will never get close to because I would be too busy taking pictures of yet another Artdéco building. Sometimes I even preferred walking a bit and seeing what's around the corner, instead of standing around and waiting for someone to finally pick me up.
I don't really remember how I chose to do this hike. I think I wanted to get away from Vienna to somewhere warmer, and the idea of doing one of the European Long-Distance Trails had been in my head for quite a while aready. Now the South of Spain happens to be one of Europe's warmest regions in February and the E4 happens to start in Tarifa... so there I had my new project to dream of in cloudy Vienna!
I'm excited. As always, I kind of have a plan in my mind and at the same time I don't. I will just see how it goes, and in the end everything works out as it should anyway.
I'd love to keep my plentiful readers updated about my progresses with pictures and GPS tracking and everything, but I'm afraid this won't work out. I will sleep in my new parent-sponsored tent most of the time, so I'll only be able to charge my phone when I'm having lunch in towns. As I'll mainly need the phone for orientation, which takes lots of battery, and taking some pictures to show you later, I guess there won't be enough battery left for an update every evening. I though of buying one of these mobile chargers, but I didn't need it until now, so why would I add extra weight to my backpack just so I can track my pace, right? Also this hike is obviously the logical continuation of me deleting my facebook account and generally trying to avoid all the unnecessary internet bullshit, so looking at my iPhone at night is the last thing I wanna do.
Of course I am hoping that this trip will somehow bring me relevation and solutions for my problems. I see myself walking on a small path winding through the most beautiful landscapes and finally understanding everything around and inside me. Of course I also know that this probably won't happen. Our lives are not like the ones in the movies, and there's no background music (I'm still thinking about whether to bring my mp3-player or not..). But you know what? Der Weg ist das Ziel ;)
